“What’s weird to me is that a lot of genres are taken off reading lists as an option, because it’s one thing to say, ‘oh, writing this, you’d probably fail. Writing science fiction short fiction is hard.’ Okay, fair. But am I going to do bad reading it?”<\/p>\n
No matter their major, every student has an opinion on how their classes should be run. From humanities to STEM and everything in between, we\u2019ve developed ideas on the best texts to read, the most useful assignments, and even the most ideal class section to sign up for. Each opinion is unique and even sometimes at odds with those of our friends, classmates, and professors. One thing all undergraduate University of Michigan students have in common, though, is that we have to take writing classes. Some degrees require more English classes than others, but there\u2019s always at least a couple thrown in the mix.<\/p>\n
As a creative writing major, I think a lot about the texts I study for classes, the various types of writing I\u2019m both encouraged to try and discouraged from exploring, and what kinds of books to read to enrich my free time. Since everyone I know has some degree of experience with the literary world, I thought it would be interesting to find out if the opinions of my fellow Michigan students align or conflict with my own. I sat down with three of my friends \u2013 Noah, Dhanuj, and Taylor \u2013 and we discussed all of our experiences with the world of English. In particular, we talked about what we took away from our high school English classes, our takes on \u201cnon-literary\u201d genres (fantasy, horror, romance, etc.), and, to close it all out, the books we read in our free time. Tune in below.<\/p>\n